How long can a charged off credit card show on my report?

Calculating the Time

A charge off can report for seven years plus 180 days from the original default date. The original default date was the first time you missed a scheduled payment in the sequence that led to the charge off. You may have to wait for the expiration of the reporting period for the original account to vanish, but there is more to the story. Charge offs are known to generate two types of errors that need credit repair. These errors can have a significant effect on your scores and should be dealt with quickly.

Collector Mistakes Add Up

When the original creditor charges off an account they normally sell it to a collector, who in turn will report to the credit bureaus. At this time the original creditor is supposed to report your balance as zero, so that you will not appear to owe double the amount. Often this does not happen and the creditor continues to report a balance, which gives rise to the need for credit repair.

Take Charge with Credit Repair

There is one more very common credit repair issue. If the first collector does not manage to collect, he may sell the account to another collector, who may sell to another, and so on. A collector is supposed to remove the account from your credit report when he sells the debt. There should never be more than a single collection account for the same debt on your report. Yet there is no incentive for collectors to comply with this requirement, hence these defunct accounts can linger for years until you or your credit repair service disputes them.